


a home he'd been without

by communikate



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Post-Season/Series 04, Snowball Fight, Some Fluff, Some Humor, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-28 00:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13259508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/communikate/pseuds/communikate
Summary: After their battle on Naxzela, Keith rejoins the team to keep an eye on Lotor. But even as he relishes in the feeling of home, he struggles to belong, no longer a Paladin of Voltron.





	a home he'd been without

**Author's Note:**

> This is my ~~late~~ entry for the Voltron Gift Exchange for Eden!! I hope that you like it!! ~~and I'm sorry about the lateness, I ended up rewriting it three times until I finally had a piece that I liked haha~~

The Galra had surrounded the planet like moths to a flame, infesting and parasitic. Gutting the planet for the precious metals that laid just beneath the surface, they mined to construct more war ships and sentries and other weapons of destruction. The peaceful inhabitants were forced to work harrowing days marching behind large drills into the darkness of the mines in order to pacify the hungry Galra.

It was a planet just past Naxzela and a backbone of support for the Galra empire. Freeing it was the next essential step in their plans, the perfect action after their last success.

Unfortunately, Lotor was the one who had suggested it.

Since his appearance, the castle had an air of wariness, settling like a fine layer of dust across the furniture and heavily upon their shoulders. Keith had requested a change in position from Kolivan after Lotor’s announcement, determined to stay near the man he had tracked and hunted for months. And quietly, he was thankful for the opportunity to be close to the paladins once again. He didn’t realise how much he’d missed the casual compassion and closeness of the team compared to the Blade, a coldness and strict dedication.

Even during the intense planning of this battle, Keith relished in the small things: the compassion lacing Lance’s occasional jokes or Shiro asking for Keith’s opinion or Pidge’s quick wit and comebacks. And while the hours passed in an intense sort of peace, they developed a plan that ensured the least amount of casualties. The lives lost during the last battle still weighed heavily on every member of the team.

_(It was evident in Matt’s face and the way Pidge hovered around him, watching him out of the corner of her eyes. It shown in Lance’s soft frown or the stiffness to Shiro’s shoulders or Pidge’s harsher demand for perfection or Hunk’s increased anxiety or Allura’s isolation from the team, still determined to keep the perfect facade of a royal around them._

_And Lotor’s presence didn’t alleviate the stress. His watchful eyes and the flashes of his wicked grin only increased their paranoia.)_

On their way to the planet, Matt rode shotgun in the green lion, operating the cloaking device and following their detailed plan. And Keith hovered just outside the castle particle barrier in his stolen Galra fighter, forced to simply watch Voltron engage in battle with the hundred Galra cruisers that surrounded the planet like a thin mist.

He’d kept the fighter jet since their last battle, but had been a little cautious to enter after the way the it almost all ended. _(Matt had been distraught, running up to him in the pod docking station. His bottom lip was worried and almost split with the force he’d been biting it with. Eyes puffy and cheeks slick with tears not for Keith, but for the rebels that had been lost before the Blade could initiate their stolen cannon._

_“Keith, what were you doing?”_

_“Whatever I needed to do.” He’d still been shaking, arms tucked tightly to his sides, Blade mask in place because tears had tracked down his cheeks and reddened his eyes. “It was one life for the sake of thousands -_ millions _, Matt.” There was a small silence between them, and Keith could see the argument play out on Matt’s features - the indignation, the fury, the understanding, and the bitter acceptance. “It was my life for theirs - for my family.”_

_Keith had walked past him, pausing at the door. “Please, don’t tell them. They wouldn’t understand. They don’t understand the sacrifices we have to make.”_

_Because if his time at the Blade had taught him anything, it was that this was war and sacrifices were unavoidable._

_“We love you, Keith.” Was all Matt said still facing away from him, shoulders shaking slightly and head tipped back._

_“I know.”)_

Thankfully, Hunk and Coran had time to repair the fighter, since one wing had been badly damaged. Pidge even outfitted it with several new programs and changed the color of the glowing runes that ran along the exterior to blue, her means of making him distinguishable from the rest of the fighters they would be facing.

_(“Wouldn’t want to accidently think you were Galra, right?” She smiled and slapped the new fighter, proud of herself.)_

His hands tensed on the controls, watching Voltron destroy battlecruiser after battlecruiser and imaging he could still hear the encouraging purrs from Red or the quiet support of Black. He closed his eyes and listened to his teammates voices, pretending like he could be integral to the team once again.

Shaking off the feelings that had haunted him since joining the Blade, he focused on something that could provide results, something tangible. He could watch Lotor and protect the team from themselves.

_(He could see the way they were relaxing in Lotor’s presence, his words and story ever convincing. But Keith knew him, knew how manipulative and tricky he was; following him for months had its advantages. And all the paladins were too trusting, suspicions slowly dropping as Lotor continued being charismatic and helpful._

_So he would protect them.)_

“What’s this?” Lance joked through the comms, tone light and playful as Voltron’s shoulder cannon eliminated the last Galra cruiser. “Keith actually listening to orders and not rushing into battle?”

“Nice one, Lance,” Hunk answered while Pidge and Allura snickered.

Shiro’s tone was stern, but there was an edge of humor, “Lance.”

“Has Lance gotten even less funny because I haven’t been here to call him out on his bad jokes?” Keith rebutted, steering his fighter into the remnants of the battle and following the Voltron lions as they split. They burst through the atmosphere and descended to the surface of the planet.

Pidge snorted with laughter, the soft sound almost lost in the squawk of indignation from Lance.

Before Lance could say anything else, Keith steered the fighter in for a landing, sloppily sliding along the icy surface. His fingers tensed on the controls, heartbeat racing and mind flickering back to the purple particle barrier and Matt’s screams.

Stumbling out of the fighter, he opened his Blade helmet, enjoying the sting of air across his face as his lungs struggled for air. _(Alive. Alive. He was alive)_. He leaned against the fighter, eyes gazing out over the landscape of the planet. Snow-like particles swept the surface, burying the rocky terrain in feet of snow that dusted like dunes of sand across the planes and painted the sides of mountains. Pillars of glowing Galra tech jutted from the ground like thorns, denoting where the earth split into purple-illuminated darkness.

Several of the natural inhabitants peeked from the mouth of the mine, glaring at his modified fighter with apprehension and suspicion.

Keith walked towards the small semicircle of lions that surrounded the mine while the paladins slowly left their vehicles. Lance let out a small whoop of laughter, charging down the ramp and jumping in the fluffy snow. Pidge and Hunk were soon to follow, sifting the frozen particles through their fingers and smiling so wide it was more blinding than the glistening snow.

Ice splattered across Keith’s face, biting and cold and utterly unexpected. Jumping back, Keith reached for his belt, knife poised in his hand only to hear Lance’s raucous laughter. The new red paladin stood in his suit of blue against the monotone landscape with a flushed face tossed back as his laughter caught the wind.

_(It was a sight of bitter nostalgia, the kind that guts your insides and hollows out your heart, pleading with a bloody smile that things were better before. Strange as Lance had never looked this happy before - especially not when Keith was involved. But there was a lightness to his features, something reminiscent of innocent joy, unadulterated by war or the burdens of paladin. It was something Keith hadn’t realized the new red paladin had lost - even before his new title.)_

The remains of the snowball fell onto Keith’s shoulder as he relaxed. He bit off his laugh, bending down to roll a snowball. “At least your aim’s gotten better, sharpshooter,” Keith joked, remembering the squishy-asteroid fight _(as Hunk had dubbed it)_ that they had months and months ago before rescuing the Olkari.

Another snowball frosted his cheek, ice particles sticking to his hair and the seam of his suit around his neck.

“He’s not the only one you have to worry about, Keith!” Pidge taunted as she ducked behind a small snow structure Matt was building.

“Team,” Shiro reprimanded, standing with his arms crossed and Allura by his side.

“But it’s snow, Shiro!” Lance announced, throwing two handfuls in the air, snowflakes catching on the wind and dusting into Lance’s hair. “ _Snow_!” His laugh was a giggle, a pure, fragile thing like the beginnings of a sunrise.

Allura’s brow furrowed, bending down to run her fingers through the soft, pillowing precipitation at her feet. “Is this something you have on Earth? Altea had nothing like this.”

Hunk ran up next to Lance, tackling him into the snow with a laugh. “Yeah, princess,” the yellow paladin’s voice was rushed and out of breath, “It happens during winter in a lot of places.”

She hummed a little, eyes dancing over the crystalline structure. With the quick kick of her leg, Shiro was sent sprawling backwards in the snow, arms spiraling until the powder puffed with his landing.

Keith barked a laugh at Shiro’s shocked expression and quickly following glare at Allura.

While keeping a watchful eye on Pidge and her devious smirk, Keith started a small pile of snowballs. _(One Holt sibling had been trouble enough. Keith hadn’t known Matt that well, but if he knew anything about Pidge, they would be more trouble together.)_

Shiro made a couple of noises of complaint, sounding like muffled curses, as Lance laughed, falling back in the snow next to Hunk, arms wide spread and fanning to make snow angels.

“Snow,” Lance breathed, voice cracking at the end. And like a reverberation through a lake, everyone stilled around Lance, fingers stilling in the freezing ice and eyes drooping. The crispness to the air and the familiar crunch of snow under his shoes and the sting of frostbite to his fingertips.

“Alright,” Allura dusted her hands off on her thighs, “This may be exciting, but we are Paladins of Voltron, and we have not come to this planet simply to play around.” Her tone drew everyone from their thoughts as she stood tall _(the heart of Voltron, a pillar of strength, a deserving leader)_.

Keith dropped his last snowball to the ground, watching as the Paladins picked themselves up, dusting off their uniforms and following Allura as she confidently walked to the mouth of the mine. Her voice soft as she spoke to the planet’s workers.

Shiro paused, looking back at Keith with his feet stuck in the snow and mind ringing with what Allura had said. _(We are paladins of Voltron. Was that still a title he possessed without a lion and wearing a Galran rebel uniform? Paladins.)_

“Keith,” Shiro spoke, voice carrying with the wind over the disrupted snow of the plain, “Come on. We need everyone for the liberation of this planet.”

Pidge had paused just a few steps past Shiro, glancing back at them with a look of expectation on her features. _(There had been something else to the way she’d been looking at him, something that hinted she knew what almost happened before Lotor’s appearance. But she hadn’t questioned him, just watched a little longer, sat a little closer, spoke a little longer to him. Like she was relishing in his presence with as little preamble as possible.)_

Lance stopped a couple seconds after Pidge, hands propped on his hips while smirking. Snow had clung to his hair and dusted his eyelashes. _(The essence of a water-blessed paladin)_. He nodded his head, motioning towards the mine with a glint of challenge in his eyes and a lightness to his person that Keith noticed was echoed in Hunk’s relaxed posture.

“Wow, Galra Keith likes to drag his feet,” Lance joked, giving Hunk a fist bump without even having to look back at the yellow paladin standing behind him. Hunk snorted at the nickname he had given Keith after Keith’s heritage had been revealed.

“Galra Keith, really guys?” Keith scoffed, shoving his fingers into his waistband as he strode forward, fighting his smile and the sense of familiarity and comfort that washed over him. _(And a sense of longing that he swallowed with the thrum of his heart)_.

Shiro fell into step with Keith, patting his shoulder gently. And Keith knew that Shiro was reading the minute expressions on his face and gauging him as he always had, supportive when Keith didn’t even know he needed it. Pidge jumped ahead, walking backwards in front of Keith, eying him with a critical gaze.

“I’m not going to turn purple, Pidge,” Keith snorted.

“You never know what the Blade could be feeding you,” Hunk quipped, supporting Pidge by examining him with an over-exaggerated look while stroking his chin.

Lance laced his fingers behind his head, striding ahead of them, eyes fixated on Allura. “I don’t know, Keith with fuzzy Galra ears could be kinda cute.”

“Furry,” Pidge gasped, grabbing onto Keith’s arm.

“What?!” Lance shouted, voice echoing across the plains and bouncing off the far mountains. His face was flushed, from either the cold snow or the biting breeze or the way Pidge looked at him. “Pidge, I’m not - Hunk, please tell her that I’m not - oh, oh my god! Just no!!”

Lance’s hands were waving in front of him, and Keith couldn’t help but laugh. Hunk placed a steadying hand on Lance’s shoulder. “It’s okay, we won’t kinkshame.”

Growling, Lance fell back into the snow as if to hide his blush in the flush of frost.

“Paladins,” Allura called, standing next to a thin alien with a pick clutched in their shaking hands.

The group stepped around Lance, following Allura’s command. Keith stopped and offered a hand, prying Lance out of the snow, more particles sticking to his hair and settling in the strands of his eyebrows.

“Paladins, this is Urmisa, leader of this mine and county of Rynsyde. Please introduce yourselves before we continue with our mission,” Allura announced, motioning to the alien standing to her right.

After all the Paladins introduced themselves, Keith stepped forward, “Keith, former pilot of the red and black lions. I now specialize in sword combat and intelligence-gathering missions.”

Lance hummed and drew everyone’s attention. “Samurai Paladin?” he asked, one finger tapping his chin in thought.

Everyone stilled. Keith crossed his arms while biting off a smile. Shiro only raised a single eyebrow in question. “Well,” Lance shrugged, “if I’m the cool ninja sharpshooter, why can’t Keith be the Samurai Paladin?”

Keith snorted a laugh, unable to hold it back. “Are you serious?”

“Emo, knife-boi Paladin could also work,” Pidge suggested with another trademark smirk.

“MCR Paladin,” Shiro chuckled under his breath. Keith shot him a glare over his shoulder, eyes narrowed.

Lance clapped and gasped with an excited, playful glint to his eyes, “My Chemical Paladin!” Hunk groaned, shouldering Lance lightly, Shiro hid his smile behind a hand pressed to his upper lip, and Pidge just whispered a small “no.”

“Well,” Allura cut off the conversation, confusion warping her brow, “we are the Paladins of Voltron, and we have come to free you from Galra reign.” She nodded to all of them, before turning to the alien that made a small whirring noise in comprehension.

Shiro pressed a comforting hand against Keith’s shoulder, and for once he didn’t fight the instinct to lean into the touch, smiling softly as he looked around at his team.

Keith hadn’t really missed Earth _(maybe the food or his shack or the weather)_ , but nothing that could replace the endless adventure of space. But with the snow dancing all around him and the soft support and acceptance _(and familiar jokes that made him laugh more than scoff like he used to)_ his team provided, it felt like coming home.

_(A home he’d been without and missing for much longer than their adventure in space.)_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you enjoyed!!!
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day and are so so wonderful! I would love to hear from you all <3
> 
> Come give me writing prompts on my [tumblr](https://voltronhastakenovermylife.tumblr.com)!!


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